A C172 PILOT ON AN IFR FLIGHT PLAN FLEW THROUGH A SPORT PARACHUTIST AREA.

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RECEIVED WX BRIEFING FROM SOMEONE IN TENNESSEE. BRIEFER TOLD ME OF PARACHUTE JUMPING OFF THE CCC 130 DEG RADIAL AT 17 MI; 2 MI RADIUS; 10000 FT AND BELOW. IFR FLT PLAN FILED; IFR FLT PLAN PICKED UP AT ASH; FLYING UNDER IFR CTL. NY APCH (132.25 I BELIEVE) HAD ME DSND TO 3000 FT AS I WAS HDG ON V16 TO CCC. OVER CCC VOR; CTLR HAD ME SWITCH FREQ TO 118.0 (I BELIEVE). AT THAT TIME; WHILE SWITCHING CTLRS; I SAW PARACHUTE JUMPERS VERY CLOSE (APPROX 300 FT) TO MY L; TO MY R; AND IN FRONT OF ME TO THE R; ANYWHERE FROM AT MY LEVEL TO ABOUT 100-200 FT ABOVE ME. AS I CHKED IN WITH NY APCH; I IMMEDIATELY TOLD HIM I HAD PARACHUTE JUMPERS ALL AROUND ME. I DON'T THINK HE RESPONDED TO MY FIRST CALL; AND I CHKED IN AGAIN AND SAID THE SAME THING. THE CTLR ACKNOWLEDGED MY CALL IN. I BASICALLY FLEW STRAIGHT; AS THAT LOOKED TO BE THE BEST WAY TO GO TO AVOID THE JUMPERS. THE CTLR TOLD SOMEONE ELSE ON FREQ THAT HE WAS UNABLE TO ACCEPT THEIR REQUEST; AND I ASSUMED HE WAS TRYING TO FIND OUT ABOUT MY SITUATION. AT SOME POINT LATER; HE TOLD ME TO DSND TO 2000 FT WHEN ABLE. I TOLD HIM I WAS DSNDING TO 2000 FT. AT SOME POINT LATER; THE CTLR TOLD ME TO SQUAWK VFR AND CHANGE TO ADVISORY FREQ. THEN HE CAUGHT HIMSELF; AND GAVE ME IFR CANCELLATION INSTRUCTIONS; AND TOLD ME TO CHANGE TO ADVISORY FREQ. I THEN TOLD HIM I WAS CANCELING IFR AT THAT TIME; AND ASKED IF THERE WAS A PHONE NUMBER I NEEDED TO CALL. HE ACCEPTED MY IFR CANCELLATION; BUT DID NOT RESPOND TO MY REQUEST IF I NEEDED TO CALL SOMEONE. I SWITCHED TO ADVISORY FREQ AT HWV; AND COMPLETED MY FLT. IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT WHEN OPERATING ON AN ACTIVE IFR FLT PLAN; ATC IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MAKING SURE THE FLT AVOIDS KNOWN PARACHUTE JUMPING ACTIVITIES. UNFORTUNATELY; MY WX BRIEFING ONLY TOLD ME OF PARACHUTE JUMPING 17 MI OFF OF CCC ON THE 130 DEG RADIAL; AND WHEN I PLANNED MY FLT; I KNEW I WOULD AVOID THIS AREA. I WAS NOT AWARE FROM THE BRIEFING THAT THERE WAS JUMPING DIRECTLY OVER THE CCC VOR; BUT EVEN IF I HAD KNOWN THIS; THEY WOULD RTE ME TO AVOID ACTIVE JUMPERS.